Story+1984-11-26+Dallas,+TX

´´Here´s a song about, uh...believing in ghosts....blind faith....it is a dangerous thing....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Reason to Believe´**

´´Thanks....when I was a kid, there was this a....house that kind of stood on the....stood out on the edge of town...on this big hill....and uh....I remember at night sometimes, like, in my house the only lights on was my mother´d be in the livingroom watching television...my father´d be sitting in the kitchen....and he´d ask me if I wanna go for a ride....and he´d put me in the car....and he´d turn the radio on a little bit and he´d drive outside of town and he´d park....on this side road, he´d just sit there and smoke a cigarette, look up at the house....and then the factories closed down but....the house remains....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Mansion on the Hill´**

´´This next song, this is kind of ´bout, uh....the fleetingness of love....everybody has experienced the fleetingness of love sometime....that´s like when you first meet somebody, you know, like how nice you are all the time, they don´t know like....how nasty you are till later (chuckles)....you´re putting on your best face, you know, you get all dressed up....and like whatever, whatever the other person wants to do, like, they look beautiful all the time and ´Do you wanna go out to the movies, honey ?´, ´Oh, I don´t care, whatever you wanna do´....´Oh, gee, you wanna stay home ?´...´Doesn´t matter just as long as I´m with you´...and like, you´re making love to ´em all the time, two or three times a day, four times....can´t keep your hands off ´em even when you go over to, like, her parents´ house, they go out of the room and you´re like, you know, snuggling around....you know, but then you come back about six months later and then it´s like ´Were you gonna make love to me tonight or are we gonna wait for the full moon again ?´ (chuckles)....´I don´t wanna go see that movie, no´ (chuckles)....well... such is life (chuckles).....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´**

´´Now, this is a song....this is a song about....about....how, like, when you go out at night....you know, you go....I go out to these bars, I always get somebody come up to me and saying....´Bruce, Bruce, how´s the band ? how´s the things going ?...Remember me from back in high school ? Remember that ? Man, that was fun...we had so much fun in high school....remember that night we went out and you were with that girl you liked and...the pizza flipped over and fell on your lap and they got, the beers fell on your head ?...oh, that was fun´....it´s like....the more I think back to high school, I realise like I hated high school !....couldn´t stand high school !...I´m still glad when fall comes around that I don´t have to go back to high school !...every night I still thank the Lord that I don´t have to do no homework no more !....(?) damn, in high school....I was only interested in two things...one was rock´n´roll music.....and the other one was.... that one, that one, that one, that one (chuckles)....anyway, I gotta make my nightly (?) here, the guitar unfortunately....is the one that I became best at....but the other one.... I´m still willing to practise, practise, practise if there´s any volunteers....anyway...same old stories everybody´s always telling you....when you go out....oh....and in the end all things must pass....in a wink of an eye....and it all ain´t nothing but glory days....I´m warming up now.... (....) Keep on rocking, people....what else you gonna do ?....ah, don´t ever stop now, boys ....don´t let me down now....´cause I can hear that big clock ticking away....every minute of my life every day...it says ´Boss....you´re 30...31...32...33....34...35....thirty, thirty.... (....) I don´t wanna die....ever....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Thanks, this is, uh....this is a song I wrote about three years ago (?) so....it´s kind of a song about....about the town I grew up in....but more than that, I guess, it´s a song that´s kind of about responsobility...to, to the place that you live or your town or your city or your state...or the country that you´re living in....you know sometimes all.... they say all the, all the media and all the new technology is supposed to be bringing us ...like, closer together but sometimes it feels like....it´s making the hard things that are happening out there seem less, less real....and uh...tonight when you go out into the lobby, you´re gonna see some folks from the North Texas Foodbank....and what that is is every year....in this country, about 20 percent of all the food that gets produced gets wasted and thrown away...and meanwhile there´s people out there that still aren´t getting enough to eat...there´s kids that are suffering from malnutrition and old folks who need a hand....and people that are falling on hard times that just need a, need a bit of helping hand and a decent break....and what the foodbank does is it tries to get, to get some of that food and get it to the people that need it....and they, they serve 14 counties right here in Texas....and they´re trying to make Dallas a....a better place to live and a more decent place to live....so if you can when you go out there, check ´em out, they can use your help...and after all....this is your hometown.....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´My Hometown´ **

´´Now, once upon a time....a long, long time ago....in a land east of here.... (....) Well, now...there I was....I was still in high school....I wasn´t doing very good, I was doing bad in my studies and so they sent me down to the guidance counsellor ... and I went in....he said ... ´Mr.Springsteen, what seems to be the problem ?´....I said ´Well....well, Sir, it´s like, like I don´t know what I wanna do with myself and I don´t know what I wanna be....I ain´t got no hope, I ain´t got no faith....I got no confidence in myself´....he said ´Well ....that´s too big a problem for me....you better go home and talk to your folks´....so I went home, my father was sitting in the kitchen....I went in and I said ´Dad, I got something kind of important that, that, you know, I gotta talk to you about....you see, like, I don´t know what I wanna do with myself, I don´t know what I wanna be....you know, I need some, I need some hope, I need some faith, I need some confidence....I need a date!´....and he said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´....so that was it.... I decided it was all over, I was gonna do myself in....got out on the highway, hitchhiked ....up Route 33, down to Asbury Park.....I got into town, was this little bar that was open, figured before I went to the ocean and drowned myself, I´d stop in and have a drink...I walked in, went to the men´s room.....and on the men´s room wall it said.... ´Advice for all problems, big or small, call this number´....so I got a dime and put it in the phonebooth....called and it rang once....it rang twice....and I heard (Clarence: ´Hello´)....It was some guy called Clarence ´He-who-knows-all´ Clemons....he gave me his address, I went over....knocked on the door....we stood there for a second, kind of checked each other out....we decided we´d make a good team.....and Clarence said he had the answer to solve all our problems....he had a map to the secret of the world and that if we followed that map, all our problems would be solved....and so we got into his Oldsmobile and we drove south down Route 9.... through Toms River, way past Freehold, through Lakewood....it was raining, it started hailing....snow came down, then we got hit by a tornado and then a heatwave hit us and then a hurricane came by but we kept on driving....until we found ourselves on this little dirt road....we had four flat tires, carburetor fell off, fenders fell off, engine block cracked....and according to the map what we were looking for was just on the other side of those woods....so into the forest we went....it was scary, it was so dark....there were sounds coming from everywhere....we passed by this big shade tree.....we could tell it was a shade tree because it had its shades on....deep into the forest we went .... we heard lions roaring ....wolves howling (crowd howls)....homicidal cows mooing (crowd moos)...mad dogs barking (crowd barks)....now, Big Man, there ain´t nothing in these woods that like, no kind of dangerous animals or something, is there ?...I mean ....I ain´t ever heard of no like real dangerous animals in New Jersey, you know.... (?) ...I guess, uh....I think I hear something....whooa! and there it was, this big man-eating bear but, but instead of jumping on us and eating us alive.....he seemed like he was kind of friendly....he said ....he said that he wasn´t mean but he was just lonely....and that he´d run away from the circus....now, that if we´d be his friends that he´d help us, he´d help us find what we was looking for....now, I could tell by his hat that he was smarter than the average bear....and so, and so off into the forest we went, we followed him.....and there in the clearing....the clouds pulled away from the moon .... and we saw the answer....to our quests....then we stood there in the moonlight....and felt like everything was gonna be all right....and then...when we....when we touched...”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Growin´Up´**

´´There was this spot....it was down by the river....(?)....and uh, it was underneath this grove, like, this grove of cottonwood trees....I remember that´s where I met her...and when we first started going out, we were laughing and having fun all the time, she always liked to go out running....go riding....and then after a while it got like....the things that made her happy once....didn´t seem to make her happy any more....and uh, I started spending a lot of my time just trying to find some way....some way to make her happy again....and she got to be wanting to stay home all the time....and hide my keys so I wouldn´t go out.....and it´s hard to understand what brings people together...and then what pulls ´em apart....sometimes I think that we....we expect too much from each other or something.....you meet somebody, you think that they can take away all of your loneliness....when in the end....like, nobody can take away the loneliness....you.... you just hope that you can find somebody maybe that you can share it with....and that ain´t so bad.... (....) Well, that was the night....that was the night that we left....and we don´t know where we´re gonna go yet....but, I guess, that, that´ll come in time....now, sometimes it seems like time....time gets running so short....like it´s gonna run out on you....but there´s not much you can do but keep....but keep going....just keep on going....keep searching....”
 * 26.11.84 Dallas, TX, intro to ´Racing in the Street´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//